


Your Average Joe

by katikat



Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-02-14
Packaged: 2019-03-18 15:25:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13684443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katikat/pseuds/katikat
Summary: They’re on a stakeout and they’re bored, bored, bored! So bored, actually, that it’s starting to make Mac cranky. Mac’s POV. (Unbeta'd)





	Your Average Joe

**Author's Note:**

> Eh, I don’t even know what this is. I just sat down and started typing and this happened. Eh.

They’re on a stakeout, he and Jack, in a town better not named, staking out a military facility that officially doesn’t exist, waiting for someone - for whom, the intel didn’t specify, of course - to try to get their thieving little hands on a weapon that officially doesn’t exist either. And it’s sweltering hot. Just another lovely day at the office.

Mac’s  _not_ cranky. He’s  _not_. But they’ve been sitting there for hours - and hours and  _hours_! - and Jack’s been listening to the same Willie Nelson CD on repeat - over and  _over_ again! - and Mac’s almost out of paper clips, the dashboard’s littered with his doodles!

The last song on the CD is slowly winding down. And if Jack starts playing the damn thing from the beginning again, Mac will blow up the stereo on principle. He’s a patient man but even he has his limits!

Distraction, that’s what he needs.

“Hey, you’ve never actually told me why you left the army, back then, after Iraq,” Mac blurts out the first thing that comes to his mind when he sees Jack reach for the stereo button. “I mean, you always sound so proud when you talk about your Delta Force days, so… it never made much sense to me.”

The car remains blessedly quiet as Jack drops his hand and contemplates the question. But the longer the silence lasts, the more apprehensive Mac feels; he hopes he didn’t ask the wrong thing. He only wanted to distract Jack a little and he would hate it if his question brought back bad memories, if it hurt Jack.

Finally, Jack replies, staring out through the windshield at the sun-baked street, “I guess-I guess I  _loved_ the army but I didn’t particularly  _like_ it.”

Mac frowns, looking at him. “I don’t follow,” he admits.

Jack shoots him a self-deprecating smile. “Look, we both know I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed. I’m  _not dumb_  but I’ll never be as smart as you.”

Now Mac’s frown deepens. He hates it when Jack talks like that about himself because, yeah, sure, Jack might not know how to turn a cellphone into a bomb but he’s one of the wisest people Mac’s ever known, even though one needs to know Star Wars by heart to actually get his point most of the time. “That’s not true!” he protests.

But Jack shakes his head. “Hey, I’m not putting myself down, just stating the truth. Most people on this God given earth will never be as smart as you, kid, and I don’t mind joining the masses there. I’m your average Joe. I was a good football player but not good enough to make a career out of it. I got into college but I wasn’t smart enough to actually finish it.

“But I’m really good at  _this_.” He pats his gun holster. “At fighting and shooting, kicking people’s asses…  _protecting_ them.” He gives Mac a meaningful look and Mac smiles. “So, you could say that I enlisted - that I chose  _this_ line of work - because of that. But… it was more than that.”

Mac turns in his seat a little to see Jack better. “Tell me,” he prompts.

Jack sighs and takes a moment before replying. “I love what the army stands for. And not just protecting my country, being a patriot and things like that. No. I love that it’s a  _home_ away from home. Your unit’s your  _family_ outside your family, you get me?” He glances at Mac.

But Mac…  _doesn’t_ , not really. Well, he  _does_ , in theory, but he’s always been more of a loner. Until he met Jack, that is, who chose Mac as his son slash little brother slash charge, basically his  _responsibility_. And Mac loves him for it more than Jack will probably ever know, for giving Mac the sense of…  _security_.

“So, yeah,” Jack continues. “I loved  _that_ about being in the army. But at the same time…” He shakes his head a little. “I hated being used as a-a  _hammer_ , sometimes without regard for collateral damage. I get it, it’s not easy to make decisions and give out orders, even from the safety of your office, but… to actually see the end result up front…

“So I left, after Iraq. And I joined the CIA, thinking that maybe it would suit me better, being able to make my  _own_ decisions in the field, as long as the mission was accomplished,” Jack says. “And, yeah, I got that. I was my own man, more or less. But at the same time, I couldn’t  _trust_ anyone, not even the people I was working with. Sure, there was Sarah. And Matty. But those were the exceptions. And I hate not being able to trust people, it eats me up on the inside.”

Mac nods. He knows that. Jack hates secrets and lies.

“And so I went back, thinking that maybe something changed, that it would be different this time, being in the army. Or maybe my pa’s passing had something to do with it, too, I don’t know.” Jack pauses, then sighs. “But it wasn’t. Different, I mean.”

“Well, if the army disappointed you and the whole spy business, too, then why are you here? Working for the Foundation?” Mac asks.

Jack laughs quietly and thumps Mac on the thigh with his fist playfully. “Why? Because then  _you_ came along, you fool.”

“ _Me_?” Mac says, a little surprised.

“Yeah,  _you_ ,” Jack replies, still smiling. “Pale and skinny, with the nerdiest, most  _ridiculous_ name  _ever_ and I realized, I didn’t need the army. All I needed was to find the right people and stick with them.”

“So… I’m the ‘right people,’ then?” Mac asks with a small smile.

“You know you are, man,” Jack tells him, completely serious. “I’ve never trusted anyone the way I trust you. I would follow you anywhere. And you know why?”

Mac shakes his head a little.

Jack looks at him, hard. “Because I know you would never abuse it.”

_Oh_ , Mac thinks, dropping his eyes. “Thanks,” he replies thickly because… what else could he say to that? Nothing would be adequate.

“Does that mean you won’t blow up the car stereo, after all?” Jack asks and when Mac looks up quickly, he sees Jack smirking mischievously.

“How–?” Mac stammers out in surprise.

Jack’s smile widens. “You do this-this  _thing_ with your face when you’re really annoyed, bordering on homicidal.”

“I do  _not_!” Mac replies, affronted.

“Yes, you do. You always clench your jaw  _real tight_ and then this little vein you’ve got here” –Jack points– “starts pulsing like crazy. Let me tell you, that’s not good for you, longterm. You’re lucky the Foundation has a good dental.” He nods sagely.

“That’s not– I don’t do that!” Mac protests, huffing, and straightens up in his seat.  _Nonsense, this!_

But Jack lifts his eyebrows and his head bobs. “Yes, you do, you so do! And you also–”

Luckily, their thief arrives soon after. But it doesn’t stop them from bickering all the way through the car chase and the apprehension of said criminal in a rather spectacular fashion at the local mall. It’s all quite flashy and unforgettable. Matty will be so pleased.  _Not._

And then, since they’re already there - though the mall’s looking rather worse for wear despite their best efforts - Mac gets Jack a new Willie Nelson CD because the old one got trashed together with their car. And Jack gets Mac a big box of paper clips.

Tomorrow, they’ll do it all over again. And they wouldn’t have it any other way.


End file.
